Practitioners, such as dentists or oral surgeons, use various techniques and devices for placing and installing dental implants or other prosthetics in a patient's mouth. Generally, dental implants are placed and installed using non-cannulated drilling techniques for drilling a hole into the jaw bone of the patient and securely positioning the dental implant within the formed hole. The size, shape, and orientation of the formed holes are important because the holes typically dictate the fit and orientation of the dental implant.
Conventional hole forming techniques in dental applications include accessing the portion of the jawbone where the dental implant will be placed by creating incisions in the patient's gums. The practitioner then pushes each flap of gum tissue back to expose the underlying bone. Generally, once the bone is exposed, the practitioner uses a series of incrementally larger diameter drill bits (also commonly referred to as “drills”) to prepare the hole into which the implant is placed. More specifically, according to several known techniques, a drill guide splint is formed from a cast of the patient's mouth and placed in the patient's mouth. The drill guide splint is used to direct round burs and/or bone drill bits in place during drilling. A small round bur or drill bit is first used to form a divot in the bone. A pilot drill bit is then used to form a pilot hole in the bone for positioning larger drill bits.
After the pilot hole is formed, the practitioner evaluates the positioning, orientation and angle of the implant hole by inserting an alignment pin into the implant hole. If the alignment is correct, the practitioner uses the pilot drill bit to drill the total depth needed for the implant. The practitioner incrementally expands the hole to a final size by utilizing several drill bits of increasing diameter. The dental implant is then placed in and secured to the formed hole.
In contrast to dental applications, the use of cannulated drill systems for forming holes in non-dental human tissue is known in the art. Although some cannulated drill systems have been used to form holes in human tissue, such systems are not adapted for use in dental applications.